American Indian Spring 2001 Celebrating Native Traditions & Communities

On the Powwow

Keeping Traditions Alive

ê 3 Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian I he Spirit St ries

rh<* Crow buffalo legacy blanket is the second in live Æ Spirit Series lour double saddle blankets created bv prominent Native American artists to honor the spirit ol Iile tlval runs through a tribe and its people. gR"

1 he Crow buffalo blanket Mi* measures ob x 30 • Iq learn m tm>re about this blanket and other Spirit Series blankets, please visit our Web site at wvvw.college(unil.fug or call 1 Hoo-880 -;887.

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This blanket has a story to tell.

On a day one hundred and fifty years Inspired by this legacy, Crow master ago, the Crow people came to be surrounded by artist Kevin Red Star has designed this signed a fearsome, seemingly insurmountable enemy. and numbered, limited-edition blanket made Plenty Coups, our leader, found all exclusively by Pendleton Woolen Mills for the his tactics and wisdom of no use against these American Indian College Fund. i . S s ■. imposing warriors. Our people’s destruction 70% of the proceeds from the sale of seemed certain, when from the south we heard this blanket go to fund our colleges and schol­ a rumbling and saw an approaching dust cloud arship programs, crucial in helping our people on the horizon. learn the skills they need to be self-sufficient. The enemy watched in awe as a huge The Crow buffalo legacy is not myth herd of buffalo stampeded towards the battle or legend. It is reality as experienced by our scene and, without slowing, encircled our ancestors. We are part of a living, evolving culture, beleaguered warriors. and today we again look to the buffalo to help Seeing this fearsome alliance between sustain us. the Crow and the buffalo, the enemy took flight. Then Plenty Coups knew the truth of the pro­ phecy he had received as a child: 'Trust in the buffalo as an ally.” Cfthert /b ts

Volume 2, Number 2, Spring 2001

DEPARTMENTS

PERSPECTIVES...... 5 MUSEUM NEWS...... 6 COLLECTIONS...... 20 COYOTE’S PLACE...... 22 CALENDAR OF EVENTS...... 25 DID YOU KNOW?...... 29 GUEST ESSAY...... 30

Cover photograph: JJ Foxx/NYC

FEATURES

POWWOW -As the powwow season starts, Richard Peterson (Assiniboine/Sioux) takes us on the powwow trail from California to Maine. Peterson speaks with Rena Comes Last (Sioux), 86, who remembers the “good ol’ days” of packing up a horse-drawn wagon and heading for a powwow in the 1920s. Powwows today draw thousands of spectators, dancers, and vendors to city arenas or to rural reservation grounds. Anyone can go to a powwow today to watch the dances, eat a buffalo burger, or try on beautiful jewelry. Photos by Jeffrey Jay Foxx.

1 l""7 Defying the Myth of Extinction - Forty-two researchers traveled to Cuba to consult with traditional healers and Cuban medical doctors. At the same time, Taino descendants of the group met Taino villagers and made the connection that Taino people are alive and well despite myths that say they are gone. Valerie Taliman reveals that there are thousands of Taino descendants living in the Caribbean and the U.S. Panchito Ramirez (Taino) shares indigenous knowledge of plant medicines in Caridad de los Indios. Other Cuban researchers tell the group about plant and animal toxins to treat illnesses. Local traditional healers use scorpion venom as an anti-inflammatory agent to treat arthritis. Photos by Valerie Taliman (Navajo).

Note: On page 14 of the last issue (Volume 2, Number 1 ), Bernard Lewis, tribal interpreter for the Pueblo of Acoma, was incorrectly identified as Everett Garcia, caretaker. We sincerely regret the error. Volume 2, Number 2, Spring 2001 Celebrating Native Traditions & Communities

Airief ican Indian Editorial Board Editorial Committee I'll*» »l ld/rgHtsa» ?■«*»■■» Jl.TV.» Tim Johnson (Mohawk) James May Thomas W. Sweeney Ramiro Matos (Quechua) Karen Lincoln Michel (Keetoowah Band of (Citizen Potawatomi) Gabrielle Tayac (Piscataway) (Ho-Chunk) Cherokee) Millie Knapp Marty Kreipe de Montano José Barreiro (Taino) Luci Tapahonso (Navajo) (Kitigan Zibi Anishnabe) (Prairie Band Potawatomi) Charlotte Heth (Cherokee) Mark Trahant Terence Winch Russ Tall Chief (Osage) Leslie Logan (Seneca) (Shoshone-Bannock) Bruce Bernstein Edison R. Wato, Jr. (Zuni) Liz Hill (Red Lake Ojibwe)

Board of Trustees Phyllis Young, Chair Vine Deloria, Jr., George Gund Mari Carmen Serra Puche (Standing Rock Sioux) (Standing Rock Sioux) Lawrence M. Small Hon. Ted Stevens James A. Block Charles M. Diker Hon. Daniel K. Inouye Luci Tapahonso (Navajo) Ellsworth Brown Jorge A. Flores Ochoa Peter J. Johnson Rosita Worl (Tlingit) Sheila P. Burke (Quechua) Loretta E. Kaufman Ofelia Zepeda Director: Duane Champagne Catherine S. Fowler Hartman Lomawaima (Hopi) (Tohono O’odham) W Richard West (Turtle Mountain Chippewa) Doug George-Kanentiio Henrietta Mann (Southern Cheyenne) Elouise Cobell (Blackfeet) (Mohawk) (Southern Cheyenne) Publisher: Elizabeth Duggal

Editor in Chief: International Founders Council Thomas W. Sweeney Gene A. Keluche (Wintun) Charles M. Diker Peter J. Johnson Lewis S. Ranieri (Citizen Potawatomi) Co-Chair Valerie T. Diker Loretta E. Kaufman David Rockefeller I. Michael Heyman Joan C. Donner Victor A. Kaufman Ellen Napiura Taubman Managing Editor: Co-Chair John L. Ernst Mrs. Seymour H. Knox III William S. Taubman Millie Knapp (Kitigan Zibi Robert McC. Adams Margot P. Ernst Gerald M. Levin R. E. Turner Anishnabe) Ann Simmons Alspaugh Jane Fonda Ivan Makil (Pima) Thomas W. Weisel Coyote’s Place Editors: Barbara H. Block George Gund Nancy Fields O'Connor Peterson Zah (Navajo) Shawn Terrain (Lakota) and James A. Block Brian C. McK. Henderson ( Shawnee/Crow) Rosalind Begay Zah (Navajo) Barber B. Conable, Jr. Eugene Mercy Johanna Gorelick

Calendar Edi tor: George Gustav Heye Cent er Board of Directors Russ Tall Chief (Osage) Barbara H. Block John L. Ernst Janet C. Krissel Ann R. Roberts Art Director: James A. Block Margot P. Ernst Barbara Riley Levin Jane F. Safer David Beyer (Cree) Wahleah Faulkner Davis Brian C. McK. Henderson Ellen Liman Ellen Napiura Taubman X2idea Inc., Toronto (Cherokee) Alan J. Hirschfield Nancy Fields O'Connor Ann G. Tenenbaum david@x2idea. com Charles M. Diker Loretta E. Kaufman (Shawnee/Crow) Valerie T. Diker Francesca Kress William A. Potter Membership/Circulation Manager:

Edison R. Wato, Jr. (Zuni) National Campaign Honorary Committee Advertising Manager: The Rt. Rev. Ralph T. Coe Wilma Mankiller (Cherokee) Rabbi A. James Rudin Carol Grace Hicks Robert M. Anderson Kevin Costner José Matos Mar Douglas W. Schwartz (202) 357-3164 ext. 179 Mr. and Mrs. President Gerald R. Ford Paul Newman Sargent Shriver Robert O. Anderson and Mrs. Ford Arnold Palmer Martin Sullivan Production Management: Willard L. Boyd R. C. Gorman (Navajo) Janine Pease-Windy Boy Maria Tallchief (Osage) Richard Kirk (Tuscarora/Onondaga) President George Bush LaDonna Harris (Comanche) ( Crow) Stewart L. Udall Kirk/Marsland Advertising, Inc. Ben Nighthorse Campbell James A. Joseph President and Mrs. James D. Wolfensohn (Northern Cheyenne), Chair Doris Leader Charge Ronald Reagan Administrative Coordinator: Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter (Rosebud Lakota) Robert Redford Leonda Levchuk (Navajo) President Bill Clinton George F. MacDonald W. Ann Reynolds

American Indian (ISSN 1528-0640, USPS 019-246) is published quarterly by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), 470 L’Enfant Plaza SW, Suite 7103, Washington, D.C. 20560-0934. Periodical Postage paid at Washington, D.C.. American Indian is a benefit of NMAI membership and constitutes $8 of an individual’s annual membership. Basic membership is $20. Articles may be reprinted at no charge provided that by-lines are retained and the name “Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian” is fully credited. Letters to the Editor are welcome. Write to us at: NMAI, Office of Public Affairs, P.O. Box 23473, Washington, D.C., 20026-3473, telephone: (202) 357-3164 or e-mail letters to the editor to [email protected]. To become a NMAI Charter Member, call 1-800-242-NMAI (6624) or write NMAI, Member Services Department, P.O. Box 23473, Washington, D.C., 20026-3473, or visit NMAI’s Web site at www.si.edu/nmai. For change of address requests for Charter Members, please call 1-800-242-NMAI (6624) or e-mail us at [email protected]. Postmaster send change of addresses to American Indian, P.O. Box 23473, Washington, D.C. 20026-3473.

4 American Indian ® PERSPECTIVES

Of One Blood and One Heart by Emil Her Many Horses

TT ■ ~T hen Machi Yolanda Curinao JH j was asked, “What was your M / ■ j most memorable moment m/ ^ here in Washington?” she responded, “When Emil dressed in his Native dress.” Machi Gerardo Queupucura added, “It showed that we are all of one blood and of one heart; we are brothers.” As lead curator for the Our Universes exhibi­ tion, I have had the distinct pleasure to meet and work with spiritual leaders and elderly community members from eight Native groups from throughout the Western Hemisphere. The eight groups are Mapuche, Q’eqchi’ Maya, Quechua, Hupa, Santa Clara Pueblo, Anishinabe, Lakota and Yup’ik. The machis are spiritual leaders for the Mapuche people from Chile. I am grateful that Machi Yolanda and Machi Gerardo agreed to curate the Mapuche portion of Our Universes, one of three major exhibitions being developed for the new National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) currently under construction on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. On March 20, Machi Gerardo and Machi Yolanda, accompanied by Maria Catrileo, a Mapuche linguist from the University Austral of Chile who served as our translator, and Rene Machi Gerardo Queupucura and Machi Yolanda Curinao agreed to curate the Mapuche San Martin, an anthropologist and dose friend portion of the Our Universes exhibition, one of three major Mall exhibitions. The Machis, of Machi Gerardo, flew to Washington, D.C., Mapuche spiritual leaders, stand near a ruka, a traditional Mapuche house in Chile. to view NMAI’s Mapuche collections. The goal was to select Mapuche objects for inclusion in Hemisphere wear their traditional dress only on As we entered the reception, Machi Gerardo their gallery. Flying to Washington was Machi special occasions. In fact, just such a special turned to me and said that he would like me by Yolanda’s first experience in a plane. Guided by occasion was planned. his side during the reception. a dream, she agreed to make this long journey W. Richard West (Southern Cheyenne), 1 felt it was an honor to dress in my from her home in Chumbio, Chile. NMAI director, held a reception for our traditional clothing for our Mapuche visitors. It Fellow NMAI staff members Ramiro Matos Mapuche team members during their visit to has also been an honor to learn about the (Quechua) and Carmen Arrellano accompa­ Washington. The reception took place at the Mapuche understanding of the universe from nied me as we greeted our Mapuche team Cultural Resources Center, which houses the Machi Yolanda, Machi Gerardo, Maria, and members at Ronald Reagan Washington NMAI collections. The development of these Rene. Along with our Mapuche team members, National Airport. The two machis wore their exhibits involved many departments of the Ramiro, Carmen, and I consider ourselves a traditional Mapuche dress, as the machis do museum, and the reception gave everyone an very dose team. We look forward to educating every day, which included fine examples of opportunity to meet our Mapuche visitors. I future visitors to NMAI about the Mapuche Mapuche silver jewelry and colorful textiles. decided to wear my traditional dress for our people’s rich and complex Native philosophy Although they knew that Ramiro is Quechua guests. As I walked into the curatorial confer­ and celebrating the indigenous peoples repre­ from Peru and that I am Oglala Lakota from ence room where our Mapuche team members sented in Our Universes. ■ South Dakota, they asked at times if they would were waiting to enter the reception area, every­ see other Native peoples. They found it difficult one was thrilled to see me in my traditional Emil Her Many Horses (Oglala Lakota) is curator to identify other Natives in Washington, dress. Almost immediately, Machi Yolanda of the exhibit Our Universes for the National because Native peoples in the Northern asked Rene to take a photograph of us together. Museum of the American Indian.

Smithsonian Institution 5 ® MUSEUM NEWS Smithsonian Study Tours Offer Two New

A Native American Adventure for Families, scheduled for August, will take visitors to the Grand Canyon, Canyon de Chelly’s ancient ruins, and the Rio Grande. Harvest and Blue Corn dances and a feast will welcome visitors to pueblo life at the Santa Clara Pueblo.

/' ^ mithsonian Study Tours will offer two new dwellings. Other destinations, like Chaco Canyon destinations this summer, exploring some National Historic Park, will introduce guests to of the most important Native sites in the Pueblo Bonito and Chetro Ketl, centers of classic American Southwest. In June, New Mexico: Native Pueblo culture. Land and People will trace the histories of the From August 4 to 12, Secakuku (Hopi), a pro­ Navajo and the Pueblo from ancient times to the gram specialist in community services, will lead present. Canyons, Mesas and Pueblos: A Native the way to Hopiland, Navajoland, and two pueblos American Adventure for Families, scheduled for in New Mexico, Santa Clara and Santa Domingo. August, will take visitors to the Grand Canyon, “Well be visiting Hopi villages like Polacca and Canyon de Chelly’s ancient ruins, and the Rio Shungopavi,” she says about the Canyons tour. Grande. Harvest and Blue Corn dances and a “I’m always thrilled to show where I come from. I feast will welcome visitors to pueblo life at like to create awareness about other Native cul­ the Santa Clara Pueblo. Bruce Bernstein and tures in the area, too.” Guests will meet Navajo Susan Secakuku from the National Museum weaver D. Y. Begay and the Reanos, a Santo of the American Indian (NMAI) will lead the Domingo Pueblo family of jewelers. Secakuku says study tours. that meeting families and artists gives people a “I like to show people New Mexico,” says chance to see how NMAI exhibits and programs Bernstein, assistant director of cultural resources, relate to contemporary Native American life. “The | about the New Mexico tour. “Ancestral grounds tours link the Museum’s resources to the commu- “ ü like Mesa Verde show the continuity of Native cul­ nities where items like jewelry or pottery come = ture.” The June 8 to 16 tour will make a stop at from,” she explains. “Recently, D. Y. Begay assisted f Mesa Verde, one of the worlds best preserved cliff Hopi Buffalo Dance, Supawlori Village, c. 1989 the NMAI with the Woven by the Grandmothers S.

6 American Indian Smithsonian Institution 6 Destinations The Strings of Creation: Ron Peters, Puppeteer

f ^ very year, the Children’s Festival at the animals had no place to live. Floating on the George Gustav Heye Center (GGHC) ocean, Bear, one of the show’s centra] characters, J_Jl invites Native American performers to spearheads an effort to create land. Each animal Manhattan; this year one of them is Ron Peters, dives deep into the water, trying to reach the puppeteer. A New York-based artist originally bottom and bring back a handful of earth. from Canada, Peters tells an Anishinabe creation Only Muskrat succeeds and places the earth story using marionettes. On stage, Windigo, on the back of a giant turtle. That is why Spider, and Muskrat act out the events that creat­ North America is known as “Turtle Island” to ed the world for the Anishinabe. the Anishinabe. “My people’s stories have always been a strong The creation story embodies the values that part of my life,” says Peters, 44. When he was a Anishinabe people were instructed to live by. child, his great-grandparents, John Kabatay Peters says he learned about family and respect (Anishinabe) and Mary Kabatay (Lakota), taught from the stories, and he hopes that his 23 puppets

Butterfly Dance, Polacca, Ariz., c. 1991 him the creation story he performs today. His Susan Secakuku, Bucky Preston teach children similar lessons. He ad-libs the grandparents used shadow puppets, rocks, and story into a present-day context. “I’m not creat­ exhibit. Meeting her will allow visitors a chance to leaves to bring to life the characters that worked ing something new,” Peters says. “I’m telling the meet the artist behind the exhibit.” together to create the world. “The stories came old stories in a new way.” As far as Peters Every year, the Smithsonian Institution offers ) alive for me,” he says. “That’s what I hope to do knows, the Anishinabe creation story has not 360 study tours to 260 destinations worldwide. Visit for children who come to the GGHC festival.” been told through puppetry until now. the Web site at www.smithsonianstudytours.org for The Anishinabe creation puppet show begins The Children’s Festival takes place May 19 to more information. with the Great Flood. Before the continents were 20, 2001, at the GGHC. - Jennifer David formed, the planet was covered by water, and the - Jason Ryle

Smithsonian Institution 7 ® MUSEUM NEWS

Vanessa Jennings: Gifts of Pride and Love

I 'v escendants of Kiowa and Comanche Vanessa Jennings, Kiowa cradlemaker keeps a family 1 cradle-making families helped to develop the display of 40 cradles shown in Gifts of Pride tradition alive and earns national attention. and Love: Kiowa and Comanche Cradles, a traveling exhibit of Brown University’s Hafifenreffer Museum of Anthropology. Kiowa artist Vanessa Jennings made a cradle for the exhibit, now on view until May 27,2001, at the George Gustav Heye Center in Manhattan. Barbara Hail, deputy director and curator of the Haffenreffer Museum, calls Jennings “the most important contemporary cradle maker in the country.” Kiowa cradle covers are heavily embroidered with glass beads. “It can take up to half a kilo of beads just to do the background color,” says Jennings, who learned to make cradles from her mother, Jeanette Berry, and her grandmother, Etta Mopope. Kiowa artists often use different colors or different designs on each side of the cradle. In the late 19th century cradles were often beaded with floral and geometric designs. Those of the 20th century used these designs as well as figures like buffalo, deer, horses, humans, and modern motifs like flags. Jennings embroiders the deerskin cover of her cradles with beads, using patterns such as the overlay, lazy, modified crow, multiple raised oudin- ing, and netted flat gourd stitches. Jennings’s grandmother wrapped her in a cradle and said, “My prayer is you’ll live a long and healthy life. Let me carry you part of the way.” Cradles carry babies from birth until they are old enough to walk. Lattice cradles, known as paih’dodl (“wrap handle” ) in Kiowa, were the preferred type of cradle among the Kiowa on the southern plains from about 1870 to 1920. “Culture evolves. Tfiis is true even for the Kiowa. Many Kiowa today use nylon backpacks and tummy packs to carry their babies,” says Jennings. For her, the cradles symbolize the strength of family and the power of artistic expression in the Indian community. Jennings’ grandson Cade came home from the hospital in a cradle. In 1989, Jennings received a National Heritage Fellowslnp from the National Endowment for the Arts. President George H. W. Bush’s letter to Jennings, dated Sept. 5,1989, states, “One of America’s greatest treas­ ures is our rich and varied cultural heritage.We are all indebted to artists such as you who have contributed so much to the strength and vitality of the traditional arts in this country.” Jennings lives with her husband, Carl, in Redstone, on her family’s original allotment in Oklahoma. - André Morriseau

8 American Indian George Honor Wall Initiative Unique program offers “once-in-a-lifetime chance” Sommerman A new initiative of Smithsonian’s National visitors each year. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime f.\ Museum of the American Indian chance," says Dupris, who lives in Hollis, Calif. J- A. (NMAI), unprecedented in the history For Elizabeth Duggal, the director of the of the Smithsonian Institution, gives NMAI NMAI’s Office of External Affairs and Meets Ford members a chance to have their names inscribed Development, “purchasing Honor Wall inscrip­ in perpetuity. NMAI members and the public tions for my children was a wonderful way for will be allowed to inscribe their names and those them to be involved in philanthropy, to help Foundation they wish to honor or remember on the Honor right wrongs for other people, and to be able to Wall. The panels will be featured above the see their names in such a prominent place in [ NMAI Mall Museum’s Potomac area, the central the Nation’s Capital in just three years. They are Challenge welcoming space. The word Potomac comes proud to be a part of such a meaningful project.” from the language of the Patawomeke, a tribe The tax-deductible cost of an inscription of that once lived in the Washington, D.C. area. up to 30 characters is $150 (an additional 30 eorge Sommerman, a 91-year-old retired “The inscription is a way for me to commemo­ characters may be purchased for $150 for a I __ research engineer, was the first person to rate my family and to recognize indigenous peo­ maximum of 60 characters, if needed; each contribute to the Ford Foundation ples across the hemisphere,” says Ethan Dupris inscription is limited to two names). Challenge grant awarded to the National Museum (Lakota), an NMAI member. “I know my Contributions will help the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) last year. great-grandfather would be proud to have the of the American Indian build the Mall Museum, The Ford Foundation presented $1.5 million to family name displayed near a place where Native scheduled to open in 2004. NMAI, which must match the grant by 2005 with dances and songs will continue to be presented.” For more information about this opportuni­ $3 million in other individual contributions. In the Potomac, indigenous people will share ty, please call 202-357-3164 or visit our website at Sommerman feels that his gift will go toward dances, songs, and storytelling with millions of www.nmai.si.edu -/flscm Ryle “good work within the Museum." Sommerman, a Depression-era Johns Hopkins graduate and Baltimore, Md. resident, is an NMAI member who enjoys Native cedar flute music of | the Southwest and would like to hear more of it. J NMAI Welcome Center As a result of the Ford Foundation endowment | and contributors like Sommerman, the Museum Opens This Summer will be able to expand its programs throughout the Western Hemisphere through a multifaceted ' T ow is construction on the new NMAI ture will be included in the museum. The Native arts program. “Individuals who designate I—I Mall Museum progressing? What will it Welcome Center’s windows will also give visi­ their gifts toward the Ford Foundation Challenge J- X look like? Why was the building tors a view of the construction site. can be assured that they are making a lasting and designed that way? What will the grounds out­ The center also will provide a brief back­ substantive contribution directly to Native com­ side the museum look like? All these questions ground on the Native history of Washington, munities,” says Niki Sandoval, assistant director of and many others will soon be answered, when D.C. For hundreds of years, the area along the community services. NMAI opens a welcome center this summer Potomac River at the site of the present city was The grant monies will be used for community- on the site of the new Mall Museum in a major trading area and home to different based services such as computer technologies, Washington, D.C. tribes. Old photographs, drawings, and maps publications, and tribal projects that provide out­ Appropriately located in a construction will give visitors an idea of how Washington reach to Native communities. “I have the distinct trailer, the NMAI Welcome Center will give might have looked hundreds of years ago. pleasure of working directly with the Native com­ visitors a first glimpse of what the Museum The recognition of Washington as a “Native munity members that our programs are designed will look like when it is completed in the place” has inspired the design of the landscape. to serve. The results of the Ford grant will be pro­ spring of 2004. “This welcome center will The grounds surrounding the museum, called found and far-reaching,” says Sandoval. provide visitors with information about the the “Native Habitat,” will honor the host tribes With the generosity and consideration of the design and construction of the Mall Museum, as of the region by reintroducing a variety of Ford Foundation and individuals like George well as general information about the NMAI,” indigenous environments that thrived in this Sommerman, the NMAI’s Community Services says Duane Blue Spruce, facilities planner for area for thousands of years, including hardwood Department will continue to develop the NMAI. forests, wetlands, and meadows. Other indige­ Museum’s rich and productive relationship with The Welcome Center will contain a full-scale nous trees and shrubs will be planted, and tradi­ its Native constituencies. - Doris Bradley mock-up of the copper screen wall and an inter­ tional Native crops, such as corn, beans, and Contributions to the Challenge Grant Fund can be sent active Web site. Drawings and models of the squash, will be highlighted. Visitors can learn do Todd Cain, National Museum of the American future museum and material finish boards will about the layout and design for this habitat at Indian, P.O. Box23473, Washington, D.C. 20026-3473 show visitors what kind of materials and fumi- the center. -Jennifer David

Smithsonian Institution 9 Story by RICHARD PETERSON / Photography by JEFFREY JAY FOXX

,-y £ hen Rena Comes Last thinks of powwows, she remembers her family loading up the horse-drawn wagon in the 1920s. Comes Last, a Sioux elder from the Fort Peck Reservation in Montana, describes her family’s two-day trek north to Wood Mountain in Saskatchewan as “the good of days.” Along the way everyone helped set up camp, drawing water from nearby creeks or gathering logs for firewood. “Everything was about entertainment and enjoy­ ment for everyone,” said Comes Last, 86, whose family continues the tradition by helping to organize local powwows. Many years ago, Plains tribes’ powwows were social gatherings. Tipis stretched across the land. Powwows still draw huge crowds, but today they’re held in sky domes and city arenas with drumming A hoop dancer holds up a globe and singing blaring through mega-speakers. Flashy made from hoops as if to say he’s made dancers compete for prize money strewn along the the world for the audience to see. powwow trail from America to Canada. Mobile homes stand where tipis once stood. Dancers,

10 American Indian A tradition that

brings families together through a colorful expression of song and dance. Men’s traditional evolved from the war dance. Dancers act out battle or hunt stories. You can spot these dancers by their bustles. The bustle sits on the dancer’s back beneath a circle of eagle feathers. Dancers carry weapons, painted war shields, or eagle fea ther staffs. In eastern regions, dancers dress in deerskin decorated with wampum, feathers, and beadwork. You can tell the clans of some dancers by their beadwork design. Mohawks and Senecas decorate their outfits with clan insignias like the bear, wolf, or deer. Judges look for coordinated bead and feather work. Arm and head movements must stay in time.

Men’s Grass Grass dancers wear yarn, ribbon, and beadwork in a blur of color. In the early days of powwow, grass dancers wore natural materials such as grass and animal hair. They were the first to dance. Their dancing flattened the prairie grass so that others could dance. Their regalia consist of beaded The dancers' many cuffs, belt, and harness and a headpiece jingles sound like called a “roach,” made with porcupine hair. The roach is topped with two eagle feathers bells when they -I or plumes that spin and bounce. Judges look for gliding steps, spins, dance or walk on the and weaving movements like tall grass in powwow grounds. the wind. Fancy shawl dancers bead work and shawl colors blur as they whirl on the dance floor.

One of the biggest crowd pleasers is men’s fancy. The dancers wear two matching bus­ tles on their backs. Two feathers on top of a roach rock while dancers twirl sticks. Spins, fast footwork, and occasional splits make crowds roar. It is said that this dance originated in the 19th century during the Wild West shows throughout the eastern United States and Europe, when dancers performed war dances for entertainment. Dancers are judged on their spinning, head movements, and fast footwork.

drummers, singers, and pow­ founder and director of the wow fans now stay in casino Gathering of Nations powwow. hotels like the Grand Pequot Tower “When people come for the first at the Schemitzun powwow in time, the first things they notice Foxwoods, Conn., to be held in are all the colors on the outfits, the August this year. beadwork and craft work.” Albuquerque’s Gathering of Everyone dances at powwows. Women’s Traditional Nations powwow draws thousands Announcers shout, “Everybody The most graceful presence in the arena may of people on the last weekend of dances,” and people from the be the women’s traditional dancers, whose buckskin fringes and shawls sway in time April every year. Other big draws audience step forward and join in with the slow beat of the drum. Bone breast­ are the Red Earth Festival in the circle. These dances are called plates and chokers hang from around their necks. Beads, shells, and elk teeth dangle Oklahoma in June and the Denver “intertribals,” and it doesn’t mat­ from buckskin dresses. March powwow, the unofficial ter if you are in jeans and a T-shirt The women carry feathered fans with beadwork to match their dress. Sometimes kickoff for the powwow season. - you can join in. Sometimes the beadwork signifies a tribe like the Nez “The powwow is a very colorful mothers and fathers hold their Perce or a clan like the Bear. Judges watch for footwork and poise. event,” said Derek Mathews, bundled babies and dance.

Smithsonian Institution 13 Young powwow J dancers like the boy’s grass dancer (right) «*h keep the pow wow tradition alive. Jingle Dress There are many stories about the origin of the jingle-dress dance. One of the most popular beliefs is that an Ojibwe woman received the design of the dress in a dream. Popular in the Great Plains, the dance nearly died out in the 1960s and ‘70s but regained popularity about 12 years ago. You can hear the jingles before you see the dancers. The dresses’ designers are usually Mom or an auntie. Metal snuff-can lids are bent to make up to seven rows of jin­ Powwows are truly for gles. Dresses are decorated with ribbon, everyone - tribal members and beads, or appliqué. Dancers wear matching beaded moccasins, leggings, belts, and the public. For a modest purses and feathers or plumes in their hair. admission fee, anyone Old-style jingle dress dancers raise their right hand during certain drumbeats to receive can show up at powwows healing. and attend events that Judges look for footwork and personal presetitation. happen after the dances end for the day. Powwow ■FT week in Toronto has become filled with other events, like the mrmm imagineNative Aboriginal Media Arts Festival and the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards. Everyone can wear their finest Women’s Fancy to attend the two galas scheduled for these events in Watching the women in this category is enough to tire anyone out. November. Their fast paces combined with colorful One of the oldest powwows, the Crow Fair, sits on a historic site in shawls have changed with the times. Legend says that some women once danced in men’s Montana. Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho defeated Gen. George Custer and fancy regalia, much to the crowd’s disap­ the U.S. Army troops there in June of 1876. Every third weekend in August, proval It was decided the women must have their own category. thousands of tipis dot the land along the Bighorn River site. Families stake The matching regalia combine beads, out their same hundred-year-old camping spots at Crow Fair, one of the sequins, ribbon, and fabric topped with plumes standing on the dancer’s head. The biggest traditional camps today in North America. Visitors from around the dance was originally performed in the world arrive to join in four days of feasts, songs, and dances. ■ Northern Plains but eventually gained acceptance across North America. Judges look for intricate footwork, showmanship, and Richard Peterson (Assiniboine/Sioux) is a freelance writer and former newspa­ endurance. per, magazine, and television reporter.

14 American Indian Tom Christian

( Assiniboine/Sioux)

dances the traditional,

one of the most

popular dances on

the powwow circuit.

Powwow Goes Digital

Modern technology escorts the and drum group. fun.” It all started several years ago powwow into the Internet age “It’s grown bigger than I ever when he began receiving rounds of through the Web. “It’s a subculture thought it e-mail from within a culture,” says Randy Bowen would,” said other (Nez Perce), founder of the Powwow Bowen, a powwow fans Poll Web site, which has become one Welpinit, Wash, chatting about of the most popular Native sites in resident who dancers and North America. For the past two updates the site powwow years, Bowen has updated the site’s when he’s not events across calendars and photographs at working as an North www.geocities.com/powwowpoll. accountant on America. So On the Web site, dancers, singers, the Spokane Reservation in eastern Bowen opened his own Web site, and their fans voice opinions, check Washington state. “This is a way for and powwow people can submit and powwow dates, and vote for their people to voice their opinions. Some receive immediate information favorite dancers in each category take it too seriously, but to me it’s all about powwows.

Smithsonian Institution 15 March March 16 - 18 27th Annual Denver March Powwow, Denver, Colo.

April April 27 -29 Gathering of Nations Powwow and Miss Indian World Pageant University of New Mexico Arena, Albuquerque, N.M.

May May 11-13 Stanford Powwow, Palo Alto, Calif. May 18-20 Cathedral Lakes May Day Celebration and Powwow, Keremeos, B.C.

June June 1-3 Albuquerque Indian Market and Expo, Albuquerque, N.M. June 6-9 Red Earth Festival, Oklahoma City, Okla. June 8-10 Northern Arapaho Tribal Housing Powwow, Ethete, Wyo. June 9-10 2nd Annual Anasasunticook Intertribal Powwow, Oxford Fairgrounds, Oxford, Maine June 15-17 Sullivan County 14th Annual Traditional Powwow, Forksville, Pa. June 15-17 White Earth Annual Traditional Powwow, White Earth, Minn.

July July 3-8 Arlee Celebration, Arlee, Mont. July 13 & 14 Honoring the Drums Powwow, Kalimazoo, Mich. July 27 & 28 Grand River Powwow, Six Nations Reserve, Ont.

August August 2-5 Rocky Boy Powwow, Rocky Boy, Mont. August 10-12 Little Shell Celebration and Powwow, Newtown, N.D. August 10-12 Wadopana Traditional Powwow, Wolf Point, Mont. August 10-12 Standing Buffalo Powwow, Fort Qu’Appelle, Sask. August 16-20 Crow Fair, Crow Agency, Mont. August 26-28 Schemitzun Powwow, Foxwoods, Conn. August 31-Sept.2 Poplar Indian Days, Poplar, Mont. August 31-Sept. 2 Cheyenne River Powwow, Eagle Butte, S.D.

September September 6-9 United Tribes Powwow, Bismarck, N.D.

October October 5-7 Black Hills Powwow and Expo, Rapid City, S.D.

November November 23-25 Canadian Aboriginal Festival and the Toronto International Powwow, Toronto, Ont.

16 American Indian Defying the Myth of Extinction H in the tropically lush moun­ have access to a doctor at a small clinic and free tains overlooking Guantanamo, schooling for their children, but their spiritual­ ■ I Panchito Ramirez somehow ity and lifeways resonate with Taino traditions. missed the news bulletin that In the village of Caridad de los Indies, the JL. his people had become extinct. traditional bohios, or thatched-roof huts, are Although history books and literature tell us interspersed with conucos, the old-style, perma- Taino Indians were completely wiped out by culture gardens that Ramirez calls their “gro­ genocide and disease, Ramirez and some 350 cery store.” The raised-bed gardens are inter­ members of his village are living proof that the cropped with a variety of vegetables and fruits myth of extinction is false. that provide most of the food for the Though their numbers dwindled dramati­ village. Literally hundreds of herbal medicines, cally through centuries of struggle following still gathered and prepared today by ancient the Spanish conquest, Taino descendants here methods, grow throughout the fertile moun­ and elsewhere continue to live a simple lifestyle tains and valleys of the region, Ramirez says. much as their ancestors did before Columbus Clearly songs, ceremonies, and parts of the arrived. Since the Cuban Revolution, they now language of the Taino are still alive in these

Story and Photos by Valerie Taliman

Smithsonian Institution 17 mountain people, taught to them by their Daniel Wakonax Rivera, a Brooklyn native their children back to join them. “It is so good parents and grandparents, whose beliefs who spent the last eight years compiling a to see all of you,” Ramirez said to his Taino- centered on thanking Mother Earth and what dictionary of the Taino language, had waited a American relatives. “Now we know we are not she gives to the people. Their ceremonies honor lifetime to rediscover the roots of his ancestry. the last of our kind. We no longer feel alone.” and pay tribute to the Creator and to the sun, Six days into the trip, after a morning of gruel­ There are perhaps thousands of Taino moon, stars, water, winds, and the four ing travel over rocky, mud-filled roads and a descendants living in seven or more small com­ directions. Traditional healing methods are a two-mile uphill hike in the rain, he found what munities in Cuba as well as in the Dominican part of everyday life, and planting is timed by he was longing for. “When we climbed over that Republic, Haiti, Florida, New York, California, the phases of the moon. last ridge in the mountains and 1 heard the Hawaii, and even Spain, where many of In January, at a historic reunion in the new drums and the songs of our people welcoming their ancestors were taken as slaves. It is only millennium, Taino descendants from the us, I was just overwhelmed with emotion,” in the last few decades that the culture has United States and Puerto Rico made the he said with tears in his eyes. “It was like been revitalized and Taino people have created long voyage to Ramirez’s village among a group coming home.” a resurgence of their traditions. Saddled with of Native healers, writers, and scholars on a For Ramirez, who is cacique or chief of his the myth of extinction and written out of tour and conference organized by Indigenous village, it was no less than an answer to his the history books, Taino descendants have World Tours and the Foundation for Nature prayers - an affirmation that those who had nonetheless struggled to hold onto their and Humanity. been stolen into slavery had survived and sent language and traditions.

Rosa, a second grader at José Marti School in Santiago de Cuba, gave a presentation of common medicinal plants.

18 American Indian “Sometimes people laugh when I tell them I system, more than half are women. But medi­ am Taino,” said David Cintron, a University of cine and equipment are often difficult to Florida graduate student on the tour who is obtain. writing his thesis on the Taino revitalization Consequently, indigenous knowledge of movement. ‘Are there any left?’ they ask. plant medicines is highly valued in Cuba, and Perhaps there are no more pure-bloods, but green medicine is commonly used as an alter­ there are plenty of Tainos. It’s just that no one native to pharmaceuticals. Even children in ele­ has been taught the true history of our people. mentary schools are trained in the use of herbal “It’s surprising just how many Taino tradi­ remedies that can be prepared at home as poul­ tions, customs, and practices have been contin­ tices, tinctures, salves, and teas. Local gardens, ued. We simply take for granted that these are nearly all of which are organic, are grown in Puerto Rican or Cuban practices and never large plots even in the cities and stocked with realize that they are really Taino,” he added. natural medicines such as salvia, aloe, man- “[Our] survival is evidence of persistent in zanilla, oregano, calabaza, and tilo. digenous resistance to invasion, conquest, colo­ Extracts from green medicines have pro­ nization, and assimilation. It is evidence that duced an amazing array of natural remedies assimilation cuts both ways - that our coloniz­ that are sold in local pharmacies, which also ers also learned much from us.” provide conversion charts depicting what Rediscovering and celebrating these tradi­ herbal remedies can be substituted for pharma­ tions was the theme of the fifth annual confer­ ceutical drugs. ence, Indigenous Legacies of the Caribbean, In addition, for more than 20 years, Cuban which brought the delegation on an eight-day doctors have focused much research on the use tour of Cuba that included Santiago de Cuba, of alternative and innovative medical treat­ Caridad de los Indios, Guantanamo, and many ments, including cutting-edge research with small communities on Cuba’s tropical eastern animal toxins that has produced some promis­ shore. The three-day conference was held in ing results. Dr. José Rodriguez Alonzo, an Baracoa Bay, the oldest colonial city in the Oxford-trained Cuban physician at Americas, where it is said Columbus landed Guantanamo Medical University, has special­ during his first trip as he made his way up the ized in the use of plant extracts and animal Caribbean islands. Left behind by Columbus, toxins for 18 years. Speaking to the group in the wooden cross still stands in the Catedral Taino healer and Baracoa Bay, Rodriguez described the medical Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion, where it was herbalist, Panchito researchers’ discovery of local people using moved years after Columbus had left it stand­ scorpions to treat arthritis. “The sting of the ing in the harbor entrance in October 1492, Ramirez, explains scorpion is very painful, and yet we saw that according to local historian Alejandro traditional healers would use the scorpions to Hartmann Matos. how one of hundreds sting their knees or wrists,” Rodriguez said. Throughout the conference, historians, “We wondered why, and in our research we anthropologists, doctors, educators, and of plants in the found that scorpion venom acts as an anti­ indigenous herbalists shared their knowledge inflammatory agent. It also stimulates the and documentation of Taino cultural practices “healing forest” of immune system and shrinks tumors, so we inherent in Cuba’s music, organic farming began further research and our findings have practices, and unique health care system, which the Tao River are been very rewarding.” Dr. Rodriguez said the relies heavily on herbal medicines. prepared and venom of one of the 28 species of scorpions José Barrière, editor-in-chief of Cornell endemic to the region was especially successful University’s Native Americas, is coordinator for used in traditional in treating brain tumors, arthritis, and cancer the annual conference. A scholar of the Taino of the liver, colon, and cervix. Researchers legacies of his Guajiro ancestors in Cuba, healing practices. believe the toxic venom starves cancer cells of Barreiro fulfilled a life-long dream of introduc­ nutrients, thereby reducing and even eliminat­ ing Native Americans from the hemisphere to ing tumors. the Taino community of Cuba. “There is a lot at set in place by the United States in 1961 and Renowned scientist Dr. Eloy Rodriguez, the heart of Cuban culture that is Taino, much compounded by the termination of subsidies who holds the lames A. Perkins Professor of more than people have realized,” he said, point­ from the Soviet Union in 1990. Free health care Environmental Studies chair at Cornell ing out the region from Baracoa to is available to all Cuban citizens, who enjoy one University, also spoke at the conference and Guantanamo as the epicenter of that piece of of the highest doctor-patient ratios in the confirmed that new research with scorpion Cuban culture. “You find it particularly in the world, with one doctor for every 170 inhabi­ venom is being lauded in the United States as a use of the medicines and in the belief in spirits,” tants, according to Cuban Health Minister possible cure for cancer. He said he had come he said. Carlos Dotres. In most neighborhoods, a doc­ to Cuba in part because he had heard about the The use of “green medicine” is widespread tor and nurse are on call 24 hours a day, and of work of Cuban researchers and wanted to in Cuba, partly due to the strict trade embargo the 65,000 doctors in the Cuban health care Continued on page 24

Smithsonian Institution 19 0 COLLECTIONS Plains Indian Children

In the late 1800s, Plains Indian children went about their day learning their adult roles through play. Boys played games, danced, and practiced hunting with toy bows and arrows. Girls played with miniature camp scenes and dolls. Little mothers______cared for their “babies” like the Blackfoot doll (see right) dressed in a wool dress decorated with white bead that represent either elk teeth or cowrie shells. The children’s playthings were also symbolic in design and decoration. For instance, the Brule Lakota dress (see below) was beaded with red crosses that some believe represents stars. The set of parallel lines represents the child’s road of life.

Beaded Dress, Brulé Sioux (Brulé Lakota), c. 1895 It is said that the red cross represents stars, the blue triangular design elements on the lower part represent tipis, and the sets of parallell lines represent the road of life.

20 American Indian Learning at Play

The way that Plains Indian children played and learned would change in the coming century. “Our traditions and our babies have allowed us to survive, and we have remained Comanche, Araphaho, A’ani-Gros Venture, Lakota, Osage, ” writes George Horse Capture (A’anninin), deputy assistant director of cultural resources for the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI). In the exhibit, Newborn Ancestors: The Art and Articles of Plains Indian Children, the traditions that nurtured the lives of Plains Indian children can be seen in everyday items like cradles, clothing, and games. The exhibit is on view at the National Museum of the American Indian’s George Gustav Heye Center in Manhattan until May 27, 2001.

Smithsonian Institution 21 by SHAWN TERMIN & JOHANNA GORELICK

is one of my favorite times of the year. It's nice to shed my heavy coat and enjoy the flowers and warm weather. It's also a fun time at the National Museum of the American Indian. We have a Children's Festival in May where I play games and enjoy being with many of my friends.

This year, NMAI celebrates its fourth annual Children's Festival. Several wonderful people are visiting New York City to take part. Lakota children and young adults from South Dakota are members of a dance group called Deer Chaser. They have won many awards. Not only are they going to make a dance presentation but they are going to conduct workshops with school children, too.They will share the drum, flute, and dance steps with the students. Ron Peters (Anishinabe) from Canada will present a puppet theater that tells an Anishinabe story, and Adae Romero (Kiowa/Cochiti) will play Kiowa hand games in the Rotunda.

One of the featured dancers in the Deer Chaser dance troupe is 15-year-old Jasmine Pickner (Oglala Lakota). She is an award-winning hoop dancer. She has been dancing since she was five years old. In the 2000 - 2001World Hoop Dance ■, Competition held at the É Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, she won first place in the teen division. W Congratulations, Jasmine! The Hoop Dance

The Hoop Dance uses lightweight hoops and is considered a "show dance." Dancers create a kaleidoscope of designs with the hoops, all while keeping time with the drum and not missing a dance step! It takes a lot of coordination and practice to be a good hoop dancer. My Daddy Named Me A-dae Meet My Adae Romero will share the excitement of Kiowa hand games at the festival.The popular hand games A-dae, everyone always called me. are a type of guessing game. These games are played Little, chubby A-dae Friend Adae by many different Native nations throughout Indian who wears her socks to her triple-folded knees. Country. One team passes an object from team Hulk-baby, Come Here! member to team member while trying to keep the Everyone held me, object out of sight. The opposing team then tries to pinched my cheeks, tried to make me smile. guess who has the object in his or her hand. Sticks My Daddy was my favorite. and markers are used in keeping score. My Daddy named me A-dae.

Adae is also a poet. She was a featured poet in the He had hands that wrapped around me, NMAI book, When the Rain Sings: Poems by Young folded over the embarrassment, Native Americans. She attends Princeton University folded over the doctors who said I needed a diet. I was too big for a three-year-old. and visits us often. In 1999, she participated in a poetry reading. Here's an excerpt from one of the She's a Kiowa baby, poems she read. Kiowa babies are always big. She ain't big neither, just filled with Indian Power. She’s gonna be the next Kiowa Princess, Kiowa are from the Plains. The Kiowa Nation is in Okalahoma and has preserved much Don't you know? of its traditional culture through stories, dances, songs, and games.

Instructions: Materials needed: - Large, paper grocery bag (1) Cut the bag from top to bottom along a - Scissors vertical seam. - Crayons - 12-inch piece of string - Scotch tape (2) Cut the bottom off. The bag should now be a long rectangular shape. Make a Parfleche Rawhide is made from (3) Fold each of the long sides about 3 inches the skin of an animal toward the center. such as elk, deer, or buf­ Try one of the hands-on activities of the falo. In the past, women Children’s Festival. NMAI cultural interpreters (4) Fold the short sides toward the center, with were usually responsi­ Angela Friedlander (Metis) and Elizabeth the flaps overlapping by 3 inches. Beckman (Anishinabe) lead a workshop that ble for making rawhide. explains the history of parfleches. After that, Part of this process everyone will get to make a parfleche of involves scraping the (5) Color and decorate the bag while it is fold­ their own, using a paper bag. animal hide and ed and the flaps are closed. The designs on each side of the folder should be the same. stretching it tight for A "parfleche" is a rawhide container used for Note: Only the two front flaps of the drying. storing and transporting items and food. parfleche are decorated. Parfleches are part of Plains Indian culture. Often shaped like folders or envelopes, they The word "parfleche" is have been described as " suitcases of the (6) Make two holes in each of the flaps of the Plains.” They were especially helpful when of French origin. Today, folder with the pointed end of a pair of villages moved from place to place. They are it describes these scissors. The holes in each flap should lightweight and easy to open and close. rawhide containers. match the other. Remember though, Parfleche Designs Native nations have Most parfleche are decorated with geomet­ BEI (7) Pull a 12-inch piece of string through the their own languages ric designs — squares, rectangles, triangles, aas1ml holes and wrap a small piece of Scotch and each has its own and sometimes hour-glass figures. These lEI tape around each end of the string to pre­ word for "parfleche." designs differ between Native nations but vent fraying. usually the designs are big and bold. Above

is an example of a typical parfleche design. Smithsonian I philanthropic work with indigenous peoples included the Taino of Cuba, who also want to establish culturally based schools. At the ceremony, Ali El-Issa and John Livingstone remembered their wives as com­ mitted Native women who gave their lives in the struggle for peace and justice for indige­ nous peoples. Taino ceremonial songs were sung to mourn their deaths and celebrate their lives. El-lssa announced that he and Livingstone were continuing the work of their wives through the Flying Eagle Woman Fund, a foundation based in New York City devoted to helping indigenous communities strengthen sovereignty and maintain traditional lifeways. On the final day of the tour, representatives from Cuba’s Interior Ministry came to invite Ramirez to participate in the inaugural cere­ monies of Cuba’s International Tobacco Festival which was held in mid-February in Havana. They said Cuba recognizes that the Taino culti­ vated natural tobacco for use in ceremonies and later gave it to the world as a gift, and, therefore, felt it appropriate for cacique Ramirez to open the festival with tobacco ceremonies. The journey to learn about the indigenous legacies of the Caribbean proved to be very rewarding for conference-tour participants, especially those who discovered a wealth of cul­ Continued from page 19 date the tremendous knowledge base that tural and spiritual ties that continue to bind compare the research with his own Cornell indigenous healers have developed over hun­ Native peoples of the North and South. project in the Dominican Republic, where he dreds of years. The main difference is that Reina Ramirez asked the group to carry a does field work studying how animals use indigenous healers’ knowledge of herbal medi­ message home to Native women in the North, plants as medicines. cines is far more complex, combining several reminding us that we are all related. “From the Quecha traditional healer Roderico Teni of medicines to treat an illness, while the empha­ women here, in Caridad, to our sister-mothers Guatemala added a new dimension to the sis in Western medicine is to find just one drug in the North and other lands, we send greet­ discussion when he explained to the two to treat an illness.” ings,” she said. “Keep your traditions. We wish doctors that his people also use scorpion Ramirez and his daughter Reina, who is an you healthy children.” venom in traditional healing practices. In apprentice to her father in healing ceremonies, Inarunikia Pastrana, a Taino nurse and Guatemala, they have long known that the offered a tour through the “healing forest” on radio producer from New York City, quietly antidote to the venom is contained in the waste an island in the Toa River abundant in natural remembered that 500 years ago the Spaniards sac of the scorpion, making it possible to treat medicines that are carefully protected and con­ invaded her land and enslaved, tortured, and scorpion bites easily. served. Tour participants also visited several decimated her people. “But our ancestors Mohawk herbalist and elder Janice schools and clinics, attended mountain dances fought for survival, and thanks to their tenaci­ Longboat of Six Nations Reserve in Canada and cultural presentations, and savored Native ty, the resurgence and restoration of the Taino also addressed the conference, beginning with a foods prepared by hospitable and welcoming people are a reality,” she said. “Our language is traditional song and prayer. Longboat spoke women in every community visited. heard once more; our songs are sung once about the traditional healing practices and Before returning to Santiago de Cuba, more. Against all odds, we have defeated medicinal knowledge of her people, including Ramirez held ceremonies on a mountain over­ extinction and continue to rescue our ancestral cancer remedies and the use of plant medicines looking Baracoa Bay to honor the memory of heritage and culture.” ■ and ceremony. Menominee activist Ingrid Washinawatok El- Dr. Eloy Rodriguez, who remembers grow­ Issa and Native Hawaiian artist Lahe’ena’e Gay, Valerie Taliman (Navajo) is associate producer of ing up as “a poor Mexican kid” from Texas who who were kidnapped and killed in Colombia Native America Calling, a nationally syndicated overcame adversity with education, said, two years ago while organizing a school for talk radio show broadcast in the United States “Western science is just now beginning to vali­ Uwa children. Washinawatok’s activism and and Canada. She is based in Albuquerque, N.M.

Staff at this Barocoa Bay pharmacy educate consumers about tinctures and salves made from plant medicines.

24 American Indian Beauty, Honor, and Tradition THE LEGACY OF PLAINS INDIAN SHIRTS A visually compelling book that evokes the aesthetics and spirituality of Plains Indian culture

YES—please send me Beauty, Honor, and Tradition: The Legacy of Plains Indian Shirts. Bill me the special Member price of $31.95 | each, plus shipping and handling ($6.95). If I am not satisfied, I may return the 20% Savings book(s) within 30 days without payment. for Members

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ADDRESS: ______•160 pages, plus two gatefolds • More than 95 color photographs CITY/STATE/ZIP CODE: ______• 10 historical B&W photographs • Co-published by the Smithsonian's E-MAIL ADDRESS: ______National Museum of the American DAYTIME PHONE NUMBER: ______/______- Indian and The Minneapolis Institute of Arts. SPECIAL SAVINGS—MAIL THIS CARD TODAY! During the 19^ century, Plains Indians In this book, George Horse Capture and made strikingly beautiful hide shirts to his son Joe (A'aninin [Gros Ventre]) help honor and protect their warriors and us understand the meanings of the shirts leaders. Decorated with symbols and and their importance in Plains Indian cul­ images that depict heroic deeds and ture: "... Reflecting the deepest spiritual channel animal power, these shirts are beliefs of the people who made and alive with the stories of the people who wore them, these shirts are the closest we wore them. are ever going to get to our ancestors."

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Above: Spotted Rabbit (Absaroke [Crow]) on horseback, Montana. Photo by Fred E. Miller. CALENDAR of EVENTS

MAY/JUNE/JULY 2001

Capture EXHIBITIONS MARCH 4 - MAY 27 (A’aninin) and Cecile GIFTS OF PRIDE AND Ganteaume, THROUGH NOV. 4,2001 LOVE: KIOWA AND both from NMAI, COMANCHE CRADLES the exhibition BEAUTY, HONOR, AND Historic Kiowa and Comanche lat­ was first dis­ TRADITION: THE LEGACY tice cradleboards are featured in this played at the San OF PLAINS INDIAN SHIRTS traveling exhibition, as well as two Francisco Airport Featuring 50 visually stunning and new cradles created especially for the galleries in 1998. On view spiritually powerful Plains Indian exhibition. The cradles, which concurrently with Gifts of shirts, the show explores the beauty, are among the most beautiful Pride and Love: Kiowa and power, history, iconography, con­ expressions of Plains Indian bead Comanche Cradles. struction, and materials of Plains design of the late 19th and early Indian shirts from the 19th and 20th 20th centuries, are technically intri­ APRIL 5 - OCT. 7 centuries. Curated by George Horse cate, brilliant in color and design, Capture (A’aninin), NMAI’s deputy and practical in function. Lattice SETH EASTMAN assistant director of cultural cradles, the preferred type of cradle WATERCOLORS: A SOLDIER resources, and his son, Joe Horse in the southern Plains among Kiowa Beauty, Honor, and Tradition: ARTIST AMONG THE DAKOTA Capture, assistant curator of Africa, and Comanche from about 1870 The Legacy of Plains Indian Shirts, Featuring 56 watercolor paintings Oceania, and the Americas at the to 1910, assist in socializing babies on view at the GGHC until Nov. 4, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, which from the W. Duncan MacMillan by elevating them to eye level 2001. Collection — some never before collaborated in this exhi­ with adults. Curated by Barbara A. on public display — the works are selectors from throughout the bition. A catalog is cur­ Hail, Haffenreffer Museum of considered among the most impor­ Western Hemisphere chose more rently in development. Anthropology, Brown University, tant visual records of everyday than 300 objects from the Museum’s and presented in collaboration with Dakota life in Minnesota during collection to display for their artistic, the Kiowa/Comanche Consulting the mid-19th century. Eastman spiritual, and personal significance. Committee. A catalog is available in was the leading pictorial historian A catalog is available in the the museum shop for $29.95. of Native Americans in the 19th museum shop for $29.95. century and a career army officer MARCH 4 - MAY 27 assigned to frontier duty at Fort JULY 22, 2001 - JULY 21,2002 Snelling. Seth Eastman Watercolors: NEWBORN ANCES­ A Soldier Artist Among the Dakota SPIRIT CAPTURE: NATIVE TORS: THEART was organized by NMAI and Afton AMERICANS AND THE AND ARTICLES OF Historical Society Press, in coopera­ PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGE PLAINS INDIAN tion with the Minneapolis Institute This exhibition explores the CHILDREN of Arts. Financial support for the meaning of photographic images Cradleboards, clothing, exhibition has been provided by of and by Native Americans in order and games, contextual­ Afton Historical Society Press. A to communicate Native perspectives ized by historical and catalog is available in the museum on the cultural history and experi­ contemporary photo­ shop for $14.95. ences of Native peoples during the graphs from the Museum's past 150 years. Photographer, collection, offer insights into THROUGH 2001 subject, and viewer are considered traditions that nurture the as the exhibition seeks to privilege lives of Native children from ALL ROADS ARE GOOD: the understandings of the people in the Great Plains, from infan­ NATIVE VOICES ON LIFE the photographs, while examining cy to young adulthood. Co­ AND CULTURE the roles and motives of those curated by George Horse Twenty-three Native American who created the images. Drawing upon NMAI’s photo archive of approximately 125,000 images, A Etta Mopope and baby in cradleboard, c. 1899 the exhibition was curated by Mopope (Kiowa) was the daughter ofKeintaddle and mother of Richard W. Hill Sr. (Tuscarora) artist Stephen Mopope (in cradle). and Natasha Bonilla-Martinez. A catalog is available in the museum shop for $29.95. PI inp r ^ Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian dance troupe composed I Toy Baby carrier with doll (Blackfoot), c 1875 PUBLIC PROGRAMS of Lakota children and This toy is unique. The style, width, and almost complete circle young adults on top is an old design. The bottom is decorated with a weave or MAY 12 • Hand Puppet Theater with peyote stitch which is done on the Central Plains. Ron Peters (Anishinabe) THE LEGACY OF PLAINS • Parfleche workshop led by INDIAN SHIRTS NMAI staff • Children’s Dances such as views and extensive Curatorial Lecture by George JULY 23-AUG. 6 Horse Capture (A’aninin) Duck, Snake, Stirrup, and newsreel footage. This Rabbit, led by NMAI staff film will also repeat at George Horse Capture (A’aninin) BUFFALO BONE CHINA • Discover Room with hands- 2 p.m. discusses the exhibition Beauty, (1997, 12 min.) Dana Claxton on learning activities led by Honor, and Tradition: The Legacy (Lakota Sioux). An experimental NMAI staff MAY 19-20 of Plains Indian Shirts and the video metaphorically explores First • Kiowa hand games led wi history of these beautiful shirts. Nations peoples’ loss of the buffalo by Adae Romero CHILDREN’S This lecture is held in collaboration and the use of buffalo bone to make (Kiowa/Cochiti) FESTIVAL with the Costume Society of fine china. America. Space is limited; please Noon - 5 p.m. SCREENINGS Museumwide call 212-514-3716 for reservations. SACRED BUFFALO PEOPLE MAY 21 - JUNE 10 11 a.m. (1991, 58 min.) Deb Wallwork JUNE 6 Collector’s Office for Prairie Public TV. A look at WARRIORS the sacred and historical relation­ KIOWA CLOTHING i ^ (1987, 57 min.) Deb MAY 12-13 ship of Native Americans to the Visual Discussion by Theresa Wallwork for Prairie Public TV. buffalo, and the efforts Plains Carter (Kiowa) Native American veterans talk 2001: AN ARTS ODYSSEY Indian nations are making to NMAI Native artist fellow Theresa about the role of the warrior and In collaboration with 2001: An Arts bring back the herds. Odyssey, cultural interpreter and Carter (Kiowa) shares insights into how Indian communities heal the master weaver Juanita Velasco (Ixil the cultural and artistic traditions wounds of war, and the veterans ESPECIALLY FOR KIDS expressed in Kiowa clothing in this participate in a Vietnam Veterans’ Maya) demonstrates traditional A film and video series for all ages. backstrap weaving. Participants interactive visual discussion. Inter-tribal Association powwow. 10 a.m. - noon This film will also repeat at 2 p.m. will have an opportunity to make Video Viewing Room, 2nd Floor Exhibition Pause Area “friendship bracelets.” Daily at 11 a.m. and noon 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. JUNE 11 - JULY 1 and 1:30 - 3:30 p.m. FILM/VIDEO APRIL 30-MAY 18 Rotunda SONG JOURNEY FROM THE FOUR DIRECTIONS (1994, 57 min.) Arlene Bowman INTO THE CIRCLE: AN Films and videos from the (Navajo). The filmmaker travels the May 19 - 20 INTRODUCTION TO Great Plains daily at 1 p.m. powwow trail to learn about the OKLAHOMA POWWOWS Program is repeated on Thursdays expanding role of women singers CHILDREN’S FESTIVAL AND CELEBRATIONS at 5:30p.m. Video Viewing and drummers within Native Don’t miss the fun! The fourth (1992, 58 min.) Scott Swearingen. Room, 2nd Floor music. This film will also repeat at annual Children’s Festival features As elders and dancers trace the 2 p.m. hand puppets, dance, games, work­ history of the powwow, this produc­ APRIL 30-MAY 18 shops, videos, and more: tion looks at dances, regalia, and JULY 2-22 • Deer Chaser, the award-winning powwow etiquette. THE SPIRIT OF CRAZY HORSE (1990, 58 min.) James Locker CONTRARY WARRIORS: A MAY 19-20 for Frontline. Host: Milo STORY OF THE CROW TRIBE Yellowhair. A history of Sioicx (1985, 58 min.) Connie Poten CHILDREN’S FESTIVAL resistance, focusing on the turbulent and Pamela Roberts. The story SCREENINGS 1970s, is documented with inter- of longtime tribal leader Robert Yellowtail, 97 years old when MAY 21-JUNE 10 the film was made, is a focus for Crow history and present-day life. FOLKLORE OF THE MUSCOGEE CREEK WARRIOR CHIEFS IN A ÏO (1983, 28 min.) Gary Robinson -W NEW AGE (Cherokee) for the Muscogee (1991, 30 min.) Dean Bear Creek Nation Communication Claw (Crow). A study of Center and KOED-TV. Creek artists Medicine Crow and Plenty illustrate tales told by Oklahoma Coups, two Crow chiefs of Double Ball, Ankara (Sahnish), c.1885 Creek elders Susannah Factor and the early reservation period In this game, a curved stick is used to hook the Woodrow Haney. who led their people through strap and throw the double ball down afield, a time of change. in hopes of making a goal. RABBIT PULLS HIS WEIGHT Coast-style box of steamed cedar- (1982-86, 28 min.) Eric Jordan, Paul wood, constructed by hand without Stephens, and Keith Leckie. Spirit using nails, screws, or glue. AT THE MOVIES @ NMAI Bay series. Young Rabbit saves the life of a bush pilot downed in the BOX OF DAYLIGHT The popular summer series ‘JULY 19,6 P.M. snowy woods of northern Ontario. (1990, 9 min.) Janet Fries for the returns, featuring outstanding Sealaska Heritage Foundation. The new feature films and the THE DOE BOY JUNE 11-JULY 1 Naa Kahidi Theater of southeastern Native American directors and (2000, 83 min.) Director: Randy Alaska presents the Tlingit story of how actors who have produced Redroad. Executive Producer: MOOJK/CORN Raven brought daylight to the world. them. From June through Jennifer Easton. Producer: Chris (1996, 21 min.) Tito Antunez Nunez October, monthly programs are Eyre. Cast: James Duval, Kevin (Mixe). The Mixe of Oaxaca, QUILLIG screened on Thursday nights Anderson, Gordon Tootoosis, Jeri Mexico, farm corn - a source of their (1992, 12 min.) Susan Avingaq, and Saturday afternoons. This Arredondo. Hunter, a half- daily food and a sacred connection Madeline Ivalu, Mathilda year’s series includes Randy Cherokee boy growing up in to Mother Earth. Hanniliqq, Martha Maktar, Marie- Redroad’s The Doe Boy, which Oklahoma, is distraught with H. Cousineau. Inuit videomakers had its world premiere at the both blood-identity and loss of HOPIIT portray women who use an old- 2001 Sundance Film Festival. blood through hemophilia. After (1984,20 min.) Victor Masayesva Jr. fashioned seal-oil lamp. accidentally shooting a doe (Hopi). Vivid scenes from life in the For At the Movies schedule or instead of a buck during his com- Hopi villages during the four seasons. JULY 23-AUG. 6 more information contact the ing-of-age hunt, the young boy is Film and Video Center at 212­ haunted by the fantasy of POPOLVUH INTO THE CIRCLE: AN 514-3730 or [email protected] authenticating his manhood to (1989, 57 min.) Patricia Amlin. INTRODUCTION TO his father and by his culture. The great Maya creation epic is told OKLAHOMA POWWOWS At The Movies @ NMAI has Through the support of his tradi­ through animation adapted from AND CELEBRATIONS been made possible with sup­ tional grandfather, played by ancient Maya writings and pottery. (1992, 58 min.) Scott Swearingen. port from the New York State Gordon Tootoosis, the boy learns As elders and dancers trace the his­ Council on the Arts and the the difference between hunting JULY 2-22 tory of the powwow, this production New York City Department of and killing and also learns about looks at dances, regalia, and pow­ Cultural Affairs. love. Introduced by the director. TOTEM TALK wow etiquette. •SUBJECT TO CHANGE (1997, 22 min.) Annie Frazier- Henry (Sioux-Blackfoot-French). Computer-animated clan totems put urban youth back in touch with their Northwest Coast heritage.

BENTWOOD BOX (1985, 9 min.) Sandra Osawa (Makah). The film explores the making of a traditional Northwest

ADDRESS: National Museum of the American Indian Smithsonian Institution, George Gustav Heye Center One Bowling Green, New York, NY 10004

MUSEUM SHOPS: For special-occasion shopping, jewelry by Native artists, books, and children's gifts are available in the museum shops located on the gallery and ground floor. Open daily 10 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. For information, call 212-514-3767.

WEB SITE: Have you visited the NMAI Web site? http://www.si.edu/nmai

The George Gustav Heye Center is located at One Bowling Green, New York, N. Y, and is open daily, except December 25, from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., and, through the generosity of the Booth Ferris Foundation, Thursdays until 8 p.m. Admission is free. All programs are subject to change. For membership information, call (800) 242-NMAI. For program updates, call (212) 514-3888. Produced by NMAI, One Bowling Green, New York, N.Y. Russ Tall Chief, Calendar Editor. Americana NATIONAL MUSEUM of l hr IndianTi* Oiutnld^ Niamv Tra^iliont •> i«umuni >

W ampum Shells Pierc'd ( ;ii 11 n >m Earl hand^ea

Your Charter Membership Means a Great Magazine - and Much More!

When you join as a Charter Member, there are many benefits waiting for you. Please review the list of benefits and indicate your preferred level on the enclosed form. Thank you for your support. Yes!,)• I want to support the National Museum of the American Indian. Enclosed is my gift of: $20 Golden Prairie Circle □ $20 □ $35 □ $50 □ $100 □ Other: $______♦ American Indian, our full-color quarterly publication Check enclosed (payable to Smithsonian/NMAI) ♦ Membership Card, valid for a 10% discount at all Smithsonian Please check one: museum gift shops and the Smithsonian Mail Order Catalogue and I | I wish to become a new Charter Member (AINDMG2201 ). website (visit smithsoniancatalog.com or call 1-800-322-0344) I I I wish to renew my existing Charter Membership (RINDMG2201 ). ♦ Your name listed on NMAI’s permanent Member and Donor Scroll ♦ Eligible for Smithsonian Study Tours I I I would like to give a gift membership^ (AGFTMG2201). (visit www.si.edu or call 202-357-4700) I I I would like to make a gift donation only (HGFTMG2201 ). I | I would like to receive information on how to include NMAI in my $35 Riverbed Circle will or living trust. All of the above PLUS Please charge my: I I Visa Q MasterCard Q AmEx Q] Discover ♦ NMAI Insight, a special insiders-only semi-annual newsletter on NMAI’s progress in creating the Mall Museum Account Number:______$50 Everglades Circle Cardholders Signature:______All of the above PLUS Exp. Date:______

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For more information on benefits for gifts over $100, please visit NMAI’s website at Address:______www.si.edu/nmai. To join today as a Charter Member, please call 1-800-242-6624. City:_ State_ Charter Members may email membership concerns to: [email protected] *We will inform the recipient of your gift. Please return this coupon to National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, Member Services, P.O. Box 96836, Washington, D.C. . Jl Smithsonian 20090-6836. 41 National Museum of the American Indian ® DID YOU KNOW?

Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, Sacajawea’s Son

by MARTHA DAVIDSON

M n image of Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, the infant / t» depicted on the Sacajawea j "» dollar coin, is now familiar to -J— M most Americans, yet few are aware of his remarkable story. He grew up to travel widely in America and Europe, master five languages, and become one of the best mountain men of the West. The first child of Sacajawea, a young Shoshone married to the French Canadian fur trapper Toussaint Charbonneau, he was born in 1805 at the Mandan villages on the Missouri River. His parents were inter­ preters for Lewis and Clark, whose Corps of Discovery had settled there for the winter. Named Jean Baptiste by his father, the infant was called Pomp - a Shoshone desig­ nation for a first-born son - by Sacajawea. Pomp, carried by his mother, made the trek to the Pacific and back with the Lewis and Clark expedition, surviving both a near drowning and a high fever. Pomp delighted the men of the expedi­ tion, particularly Clark, who named two sites for the child: Baptiste Creek, a tribu­ became fluent also in German, French, and Less is known about his later life. In fact, tary of the Yellowstone, and Pompey’s Spanish. there are conflicting stories. In 1925, Tower (now called Pompey’s Pillar), north In 1829, Charbonneau returned to Charles Eastman, a Sioux investigator with of Billings, Mont. So fond of the boy was America on another expedition with Prince the Bureau of Indian Affairs, reported the Clark that he offered to raise him as his own Paul. This time he remained in America, Shoshone account of Sacajawea and her son. Thus, when Pomp was about six, he heading westward to work as a hunter, son. According to his research and later tes­ was brought to St. Louis in what was soon scout, and guide. From 1830 to 1845, timonials gathered by historian Grace to be called the Missouri Territory, where Charbonneau traveled extensively through Hebard, Baptiste Charbonneau returned to Clark provided him with a solid education. the West, accompanying or encountering the Shoshone, led a quiet life, and died in In his late teens, his schooling complet­ many of the important explorers and 1885 at the Wind River Reservation in ed, Baptiste Charbonneau (as he came to be adventurers of the time, including Jim Wyoming. known) took up the life of a frontier man. Bridger and Kit Carson. In 1846-47, he Recently, historians have found docu­ In 1823, at a traders’ village on the Kansas served the Mormon Battalion in the war ments they say prove that Charbonneau River, he met the German Prince Paul of with Mexico, guiding it over difficult terrain remained in California, claimed a mine in Würtemburg, who was on a scientific expe­ from New Mexico to California. He is men­ Placer County, and worked as a hotel clerk dition up the Missouri River. The young tioned in many journals of the period as in Auburn. In 1866, he set out for new gold prince was impressed with Charbonneau’s being an exceptionally skilled guide and fields in Idaho and Montana, but fell ill en combination of frontier knowledge and for­ mountaineer. route and died at a stage station near mal education. Charbonneau joined the Appointed by the Mormon Battalion as Danner, Ore. A grave there is now marked expedition and later accompanied the alcalde (administrator) of a mission at San with his name and is a national historic site. prince to Europe. Luis Rey, Charbonneau settled in Whatever the truth may be about his last Charbonneau spent six years in California. He soon resigned the post, how­ years, there is no doubt that Charbonneau Germany, enjoying court life in ever, objecting to the harsh treatment of led an extraordinary life. ■ Würtemburg and traveling with Prince Indians by some landowners. When gold Paul to France and North Africa. Already was discovered at Sutter’s Mill in 1848, he Martha Davidson is a freelance writer and a speaker of English and Shoshone, he was one of the first to join the gold rush. picture researcher based in Washington, D.C.

Smithsonian Institution 29 ® GUEST ESSAY

Charlie Hill Offers a Taste of Indian Humor Indian humor is a unique genre that often combines irony, storytelling, teasing, and inside jokes.

by Charlie Mill

X "W 7hen did we become “Native %/%/ Americans?” Did someone forget to * * tell me about the meeting? The term “Native American” is misleading, inaccurate, and annoying. Technically speaking, “Indian” is also wrong. But after 500 years we made it ours by pronouncing it “Indin.” As in, “Hey! Look at that ‘Indin’ guy!” We don’t call ourselves “Native Americans.” It’s not part of our lifestyle. You never hear, “Let’s go out and get with Native American women.” There is no “Native American” time. We function on “Indian time,” which is not deter­ mined by the clock and calendar. Indian time is in accordance with the natural rhythm of the universe. Indian time is “whenever.” We don’t travel in Native American vehicles. We drive, push, and jumpstart Indian cars. An Indian car is a gas-leaking, oil-burning rust bucket with bald tires and a bumper sticker that reads Save the Environment. In fact, Indian cars are one of the reasons for Indian time. “Native American” is wrong just by the very fact that we are older than America. How can we be native to something that we are older than? The usage of “Native American” would further distort American terminology, which is already distorted. “Native American summer”; “the Cleveland Native Americans”; “Davy Crockett, famous Native American fighter”; “one little, two little, three little...” - you get the idea. Would “Indian giver” be replaced by “Native American relinquisher” ? The term “Indian savage” is used in the Declaration of Independence. Would anyone be sensitive enough to change it to “Native American savage ?” “Native American” is an attempt to be You hear terms like “First Nation,” Then there is the mixed-blood syndrome. I politically correct. “Indigenous,” “Aboriginal,” and so on. My say be proud of whatever you may be. I have a Non-native people now say, “I’m a Native mother was Cree from Alberta and my dad was buddy who always brags about his great­ American. I was born here, too.” If a Martian Oneida from Wisconsin, so I guess that makes grandfather who was Native American and landed here, all of his descendants would still me a Native American Indian First Nation African American. Poor guy. They not only be Martians. With the advent of Indian casi­ Indigenous Aboriginal Inhabitant. Try putting stole his land; they made him work on it nos, more people than ever are claiming that on your passport. for free. ■ “Native” heritage. To paraphrase the great By the way, why aren’t the Hawaiians called Charlie Hill (Oneida) lives and works as a Jimmy Durante, “Everybody wants ta git into Native Americans? Hawaiians and Indians are standup comic in Los Angeles, Calif. His film da tribe.” basically the same people. Hawaiians are biography, On and Off the Rez, traces Hill’s life “Native American” is not used in Canada. Indians who can surf. from Wisconsin to Hollywood.

30 American Indian Collect an American Masterpiece and Show Your Support for NMAI

‘Once again, the buffalo will provide for American Indians”

■ Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (Northern Cheyenne)

Early in the 20th Century, James Earle Fraser created the design for one of this country’s most beloved coins - the Buffalo/Indian Head Nickel. Now, to raise funds for the National Museum of the American Indian, Congress has directed the United States Mint to issue a limited-edition commemorative silver dollar bearing the likeness of this American masterpiece. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of these coins will be paid to the NMAI to help open the National Mall Museum.

Order during the pre-issue period and save!

Be among the first to own this new American classic and show your support for the National Museum of the American Indian.

* Please add $3.95 for shipping and handling

Place your order from June 7th to July 25th by calling the U.S. Mint at 1-800-USMINT and mention American Indian magazine, or visit www.USMINT.gov E 3 Smithsonian ^ Natioiial Museum of the American Indian

National Museum of the American Indian Office of Public Affairs 470 L’Enfant Plaza, Suite 7103 Washington, D.C. 20560-0934